For a non-profit public display and flight training situation, I've created a Flight Sim X monster.
It works well, but getting video cards is nearly impossible, and I'm going to want to build 5 or more of these.
The idea is to reproduce true-peripheral-vision while flying this simulator. It helps student pilots adjust their airport approach pattern as they would while flying, by simply turning their head. The cost is important, but not the major issue. A realistic experience IS! I'll spend the money, as long as the result is good.
===== P R O T O T Y P E ======
My prototype is running Windows 7 Professional, 64 bit, Flight Simulator X (fully patched) with 2 NVIDIA Geforce GTX 680's in SLI mode (Center 3 Monitors) with a 3rd Geforce GTX 560 Ti running 2 monitors to either side of the SLI trio.
They drive 5 - ASUS VE278 - 27" monitors. I will be looking at projected-images and other monitor solutions in the future. But for now, I will stay with my 27" monitor setup.
The ASUS motherboard has 3 PCIe x16 slots to accomodate the cards. For better cooling, I'll want to go water cooled in the next version. 16 Gig of DDR3 QUAD CHANNEL RAM serves the Intel i7-3960X CPU mounted in a LGA2011 socket. The The Solid State Corsair 90 GB drive seems fast and effective. A Corsair tower holds, and a 1200 watt PSU powers, the whole thing. A Saitek x52 Pro joystick and throttle are the only input besides the keyboard and mouse.
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This setup requires the two outboard monitors to be adjusted to match up with the center 3 when Flight Sim X is booted and run.
I'd like to avoid this in the final version.
It has been said that Flight SimX is CPU intensive.
Is there another more cost effective yet still-powerful solution?
How will Radeon cards hold up versus the NVIDIA cards?
If so, how many Radeon cards will I need to power 5 or more monitors?
I understand I'll have to use their eyefinity multi-screen technology.
It works well, but getting video cards is nearly impossible, and I'm going to want to build 5 or more of these.
The idea is to reproduce true-peripheral-vision while flying this simulator. It helps student pilots adjust their airport approach pattern as they would while flying, by simply turning their head. The cost is important, but not the major issue. A realistic experience IS! I'll spend the money, as long as the result is good.
===== P R O T O T Y P E ======
My prototype is running Windows 7 Professional, 64 bit, Flight Simulator X (fully patched) with 2 NVIDIA Geforce GTX 680's in SLI mode (Center 3 Monitors) with a 3rd Geforce GTX 560 Ti running 2 monitors to either side of the SLI trio.
They drive 5 - ASUS VE278 - 27" monitors. I will be looking at projected-images and other monitor solutions in the future. But for now, I will stay with my 27" monitor setup.
The ASUS motherboard has 3 PCIe x16 slots to accomodate the cards. For better cooling, I'll want to go water cooled in the next version. 16 Gig of DDR3 QUAD CHANNEL RAM serves the Intel i7-3960X CPU mounted in a LGA2011 socket. The The Solid State Corsair 90 GB drive seems fast and effective. A Corsair tower holds, and a 1200 watt PSU powers, the whole thing. A Saitek x52 Pro joystick and throttle are the only input besides the keyboard and mouse.
=======================
This setup requires the two outboard monitors to be adjusted to match up with the center 3 when Flight Sim X is booted and run.
I'd like to avoid this in the final version.
It has been said that Flight SimX is CPU intensive.
Is there another more cost effective yet still-powerful solution?
How will Radeon cards hold up versus the NVIDIA cards?
If so, how many Radeon cards will I need to power 5 or more monitors?
I understand I'll have to use their eyefinity multi-screen technology.